Thread holder for weft replenishing looms



Nov. 4, 1952 CEDERLUND ETAL 2,616,457

THREAD HOLDER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed Dec. 14, 1950 INVENTORS ALBERT CEDERLUND ALBERT PALMER ROBERT S. SCHEDIN ATTORN EY Nov. 4, 1952 A. CEDERLUND EIAL 2,616,457

THREAD HOLDER FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS Filed Dec. 14, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 ALBERT CEDERLUND ALBERT PALMER ROBERT s. SOHEDI N w ATTORNEY fatented Nov. 4, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THREAD HOLDER FOR WEFT 'REPLENISH ING LOOMS ApplicationDecember 14, 1-950, SerialNm 200,806

18 Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in thread holders for the weft ends of reserve bobbins in weft replenishing. looms and it is the general object of the invention to provide a thread holder whichcan accommodate different types of wefts.

Multicolor weft replenishing looms ordinarily employ a magazine having stacks of different types of bobbins. which are transferred'one at a time into their corresponding shuttles. In order that the shuttles maybe automatically threaded some form of threadholder is usually provided for the weft ends whichextend from the reserve bobbins. In thepast ithas been proposed to use a thread holder having two rotating.members-preferably formed as gears between which the weft ends extend.- The gearsare turned by driving mechanism of one formor another and keep the threads taut as the-bobbins descend'in their respective stacks. In threadholders of this typeas previously constructed difficulty has been experienced in holding fine yarns which maybe used with coarser yarns vin the/weaving of. fancy fabrics.

It is an important object ofthe present invention to provide a thread holder having. a series of' meshing rotary thread tensioning members arranged in pairs, one .paidifor each type of weft, so that driving means for oneof the members will be effective to rotate all of them. Wefts of one type, such asflhe yarn, can beled toone pairofmembers and thecoarser weftscanbe led to another pair.

Itis. desirable that theweftendof the freshly transferred. bobbin .beheld in a position favorable for threading of the replenished shuttle. When the bobbin .can be derived from any one of several stacks and. itsv weft end can lead to I any one of. the pairsofmembers the weft end may not be correctly placedto threadthe shuttle. It isa further objectof the'invention to provide a guide between the bobbin stacks and the thread holder effective to locate all the weft ends in .a position favorable forshuttle threading.

Thenumberof yarnsor size of the bundle of threadsbetween anypair of rotary members may change from time to time and it is desirable to mount .the .rotary'members in such manner that they can adjust themselves automatically to the volume'of the threadsbetween them. It is also I When glossy'fineyarns such for instance as rayon are used difliculty'is experienced in holding them between the teeth of meshing gears and it is afurther object of the invention to make atleast one of the aforesaid rotary members in'the form of a soft elastic cylinder or thick disk which can be deformed by the teeth of anotherir'otary member'having driving relationiwith'it: The'fine weft threads are forced against and.partly'at least embedded into the friction surface of the elastic roll member and are held tightly enough to prevent retrograde movement when a shuttle replenished with such a weft is picked immediately after a replenishing operation.

In order that the'elastic rotary member may have'a long'life it is a further object of the invention'to provide an elasticband or the like stretched around its perimeter for direct engagement withthe weft threads'and a' gear rotary member. This band when worn'can be replaced by another band without requiring replacement of "the elastic roll.

Withthese' and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the inventionresides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth;

In the accompanying. drawings, wherein three forms of the invention are set forth,

Fig. 1 isafront elevation of part-of aweft replenishing loom having the preferred-form of the presentinvention applied thereto,

Fig; 2 is an enlarged'side elevation ofthe thread holder looking in the direction of arrow I 2, Fig. 1, four stacks of bobbins and their weft ends beingindicated diagrammatically,

Fig. 3 is'a plan view looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is'an enlarged horizontal section on line i-"4, Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the thread holder looking in the direction of arrow 5, Fig. 1, but 'withthecover broken away to show the mounting means for'the rotary members located within the casing of the thread holder,

Fig." dis a perspective view of the weft end separatorwhi'chdsf -securedto the thread holder,

Fig.5 7 is 'aplan'view similar to Fig. 3 on'an enlarged scale but showing'the first modified form of the invention,

Fig.3 is a'vertical section on line 8'3, Fig. '7,

Fig. 9 is'a' diagrammatic view indicating the manner in which the elastic band is applied to the flexible or elastic rotary member set forth for instance in Fig. 8,

Fig. 10' is a diagrammatic view of a second modification of the invention somewhat similar to Fig. 8 but showing-the compressible or elastic roll-in a difierent position, and

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic plan looking in the direction of arrow ll, Fig. 2, showing the convergence of the weft ends from the magazine to the thread guide and their divergence from the guide to the units of the thread holder.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the loom frame 1 supports a multicolor reserve bobbin magazine M which in the present instance is provided with four stacks BI, B2, B3 and B4 of reserve bobbins spaced from each other in a back and forth direction and from which extend weft ends WI, W2, W3 and W4, respectively. These weft ends extend to a thread holder designated generally at H supported with respect to the magazine in any approved manner, as by an arm 2 secured to a tie rod 3 extending between the inner and outer end plates 4 and 5 of the magazine.

The loom will ordinarily operate with a shuttle for each bobbin stack, one of the shuttles being indicated at S in Fig. 1. The loom has a back and forth reciprocating lay L which during its forward beat on a replenishing operation moves the depleted shuttle to a transferring position under the magazine, and mechanism not shown but well understood then effects transfer of a bobbin drawn from the stack corresponding into the shuttle. Prior to the transfer the lowest bobbin in the stack corresponding to the depleted shuttle will move to a transfer position and the superposed bobbins will drop and their weft ends will become slack. This slackness should be taken up to prevent breakage by the lay as it swings back and forth, or by the picker stick 1 which propels the shuttle to the opposite side of the loom. The magazine M is shown for illustrative purposes and it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited in its use to this particular type of magazine.

In carrying the preferred form of the invention into effect the arm 2 has secured thereto as at H] a housing I l forming part of the holder H. This housing has a vertical wall l2 and side walls l3 bridged by a cover M which with the walls incloses a compartment E5.

The wall I2 is provided with a bearing 16 preferably fixed thereto which receives a short shaft I! rotatable in the bearing about a fixed axis. A ratchet wheel l8 within the compartment [5 is secured to the shaft by means of a nut l9. lever 20 rocks about the short shaft l1 between the wall [2 and the ratchet wheel and has pivoted thereon a pawl 2| to mesh with the teeth 22 of the ratchet wheel. The lever is connected to a rod 24 which extends upwardly through an opening 25 in the top of the housing II. Rod 24 is the means by which lever 20 is rocked and may be reciprocated in any approved manner either at regularly recurring intervals, or incident to each replenishing operation of the loom, as desired. A stud 26 on lever 25 is surrounded by a torsion spring 27 one end of which acts on pawl 2| to hold it against the teeth of the ratchet wheel. A small drum 28 secured in angularly adjustable position on stud 26 is connected to the other end of the spring.

Secured to the wall I2 and extending into the compartment l5 are stationary studs 30, 3| and 32, see Fig. 5, on which are pivoted respectively links 33, 34 and 35. Each link has a hub or bearing 36 in which is rotatably mounted a short shaft 31 extending through a slot 38 in the wall I2 to the opposite or outer side of the latter. A compression spring 39 is operatively interposed between the housing and the link 35 remote from shaft I7, the spring preferably being held by a lug ill on link 35 and another lug {I 'carried by the wall l3 and acting to move'link 35 toward shaft H.

A rotary thread tensioning member 50 is secured by nut 5| to the outer end of shaft H. In the preferred form of the invention this rotary member 50 ismade as a gear having teeth 52. Other rotary members 55, 56 and 51 are secured to the shafts 31 rotatable in the hubs of links 33, 34 and 35, respectively, and are bodily movable relative to member 56. In the preferred form of the' invention rotary members 55, 55 and 51 are also made as gears having teeth 53. The members 55, 56 and 5'! may be held to their respective rotating shafts 31 by clamp screws 59..

A thread positioner or guide G is secured to and extends upwardly from the upper part of wall !2 and is provided with two vertical upwardly opening slots'fifl and 6!. The positioner G may be made of a flat piece of sheet metal 52 the front and back parts 53 and 54 of which have their upper ends flared or inclined as at 65 to define downwardly converging notches which communicate with the slots 60 and GI. Extending vertically between the slots is an upright 51 to which is secured a laterally extending separator plate 68 having curved feet 69 and 10 at the lower end thereof, these feet being bent respectively to the front and to the back. The separator 58 has an outer edge 12 which is inclined downwardly and outwardly with respect to the magazine to a point at least as far from -wall l2 as are the ends of members 55 and 56 remote from wall 12 or the magazine. The feet 69 and 70 extend over the rotary members 55 and 56, see Fig. 2, to prevent threads from passing between these members. The guide G is held to the plate by screws 14.

During normal loom operation the rod 24 will rock the lever 20 and cause the pawl 2| to effect rotary motion of member 50 to cause rotation of all of the rotary members in the directions indicated by the arrows a in Fig. 2. The weft ends WI and W2 will be led from their respective bobbins through the front slot 60 of guide G and then down between the front pair of geared members 56 and 57, while the other weft ends W3 and W4 will be led from their bobbins through slot 6| to positions between the rear pair of rotary members 55 and 55. The two groups GI and G2 of threads will be subjected to tension due in part to rotation of the geared members and in part to the fact that the spring 39 acts to hold all of the geared members in driving relation.

It will be noted that if the rear'group G2 of weft ends W3 and W4 is of considerable size the geared member 55 will have a relatively large displacement from the driving member 50. If, on the other hand, the bundle GI of weft ends WI and W2 is small there will be only slight displacement of the geared members 56 and 51. Since all of the geared members except the driving member 50 are free to swing because of their suspension links the pairs of gears acting on the weft threads can adapt themselves to the sizes of their respective groups of weft ends.

The feet or spacing elements 69 and 10 are directed toward their respective pairs of rotary members and facilitate movement of weft ends toward their correct pairs when new bobbins are placed in the magazine M. Thus, when new bobbins BI and B2 are placed in the magazine their weft ends will be guided down slot 60 and then lowered and be guided by foot 69 toward the tll is made.

front pair of rotary tensioning members. During this operation the separator 68 will guide the weft ends WI and W2 of the new bobbins away from the rear pair of rotary members. The meshing parts of members 55 and 5% move in such a direction that they cannot tension weft ends between them, and the spacing elements 59 and it), which overhang these parts of members 55 and 56, prevent the groups G! and G2 from being drawn between these members.

In the first modification much of the matter thus far described is the same except that rotary gear 58 is replaced by a roll or cylinder 80 made of soft elastic material such for instance as sponge rubber. The roll 89 is the driving member for the series or system of tensioning members and the spring 39 is strong enough to cause the periphcry of member 89 to be deformed by the teeth of gear 55, as indicated for instance in Fig. 8. By this deformation close holding engagement is insured between the weft threads W3 and W t and the surface of roll (it.

The roll tit preferably has the perimeter 8| thereof fitted closely to an elastic rubber or rubber like band 82 which may be considered as part of the roll 8G. The inside diameter of band 82 is preferably slightly less than the outside diameter of the roll member 88 so that close frictional holding engagement may be established between the band and the elastic material of which roll The manner of assembling the band on the roll is indicated in Fig. 9.

In the second modification shown in Fig. 10 the gear member 58 is replaced by an elastic member 85 similar to member 86. This arrangement can be used when the bobbins having the fine threads are in the front stacks of the magazine. In this form of the invention the elastic roll 85 is deformed by two gear members, being driven by member 55 and driving member 5?, spring 39 being strong enough to cause these deformations.

It will be understood that each shuttle when replenished must be at least partially threaded during the first pick after transfer and that in order to effect this threading the weft end of the transferred bobbin should be in a position favorable i'or the threading. If the weft end is too far forward with respect to the lay there is likelihood that it will be broken or fail to enter the eye of the shuttle. It is an important feature of the invention to locate all the weft threads in such position as will insure threading of the shuttle.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 11, it will be seen that the weft ends Wi-Wt converge toward the thread guide G, and then diverge toward the pairs of tensioning rolls or members. Thus, the group GI formed by weft ends W l and W2 after leaving the thread guide Ell lead forwardly or to the left in Fig. 11 to the front tensioning unit Ui formed by the pair of members 56 and 5?, while the group G2 formed by weft ends W3 and we lead to the pair of members 50 and 55 forming unit U2. lhe weft ends from the reserve bobbins therefore converge toward guide G to a position favorable for shuttle threading and then diverge from the guide to the units. In Fig.1l it is assumed that the freshly replenished shuttle will be picked when the lay is in the full line position while moving from its forward dotted line position toward its rearward dot and dash line position. The guide G need not, however, be in the exact position relative to the lay shown in Fig. 11. The relation shown in Fig. 11 exists for all forms of the invention.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention sets forth a simple formof threadholder for weft ends ofv twodifierent groups :or types, the holderhaving a pair. oftensioning members for each group or type. It will also be seen that the tensioning members are arranged in a series and are geared together, or at least in driving relation to turn together, so that all of them turn when one of the members, such as member 50, is rotated by a driving means. The invention is not limited, however, tothe particular driving means shown. All of the membersexcept the driving member are mounted'for motion toward and from theaxis of the driving memberto accommodate bundles or groups of weft of different thicknesses and the driving relation of the members is preserved by resilient means, such as spring 39, whether the weft bundles are largegor small. It will also be seen that the separatorfiB, preferably intermediate the units UI and U2, prevents the weft ends of one group from leadingto the pair of rollers ormembers for the other group. Furthermore, the. feet or spacing elements t9 and 1H overhang the geared members 55 and 5S and prevent threads from being directed to a position between these-gears which turn in a. direction opposite to that necessary to tension the threads. Also, the thread guide G is so located that the weft ends from the magazine converge toward it vandthen diverge from it to their respective tensioning units UI and U2, and the guide is so located as to facilitate threading of the shuttle which is; replenished by a bobbin drawn from any of the stacks. Furthermore, the invention sets forth a deformable thread tensioning member made preferably of soft elastic rubber which when in the position shown in Fig. 8 is capable of driving all of the geared members, and when in the position shown in Fig. 10 will be driven by onevof the geared members and will drive another of the geared members. The removable band 82 serves as an elastic protective coating for the deformable member and can be replaced when worn.

Having thus described the invention it will be seen that changes and modifications of the foregoing specific disclosure may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a weft replenishing loom having a reciprocating lay and two groups of weft ends extending from reserve bobbins, two pairs of rotary weft end tensioning members spaced from each other in the direction of motion of the lay, one of said groups of weft ends for one of said pairs of members and the other group for the other pair of members, and guide means for said weft ends intermediate the reserve bobbins and said pairs of members from which the groups of weft ends diverge and extend toward their respective pairs of members, said guide means locating all of said weft ends in a position favorable for self threading of a shuttle which is replenishd by'any reserve bobbin.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 in which said guide means is located intermediatesaid pairs of members.

3. The structure set forth in claim 1 in which said guide means is provided with a separator to prevent the threads of said one group from leading to said other pair of members.

4. The structure set forth-in claim 1 in which adjacent rotary members of the pairs of members have driving relation with each other and turn in a direction such that they are incapable of tenepress? si'oning weft ends and wherein the guide means has spacing elements positioned to prevent weft ends from moving to a position between said adjacent rotary members.

5. In a thread holder for groups of weft ends in a weft replenishing loom, a series of rotary tensioning members in driving relation to turn together and arranged in pairs, a pair of members for each group of weft ends, means to effect turning of one of said members during loom operation, and resilient means urging the other members toward said one member.

6. The structure set forth in claim wherein said other members are all on one side of said one member.

7. The structure set forth in claim 5 wherein said other members are all on one side of said one member and said resilient means is a single spring acting on the member of said other members most remote from said one member.

8. In a thread holder for groups of weft ends in a weft replenishing loom, a series of rotary tensioning members in driving relation to turn together and arranged in pairs, a pair of members for each group of weft ends, means to efiect turning of one of said members about a fixed axis during loom operation, means mounting the other of said members for bodily movement in a direction toward and from said one member, and resilient means urging said other members toward said one member.

9. The structure set forth in claim 8 wherein all of said members are on one side of said one member and said resilient means is a single spring acting on the mounting means of the member most remote from said one member.

10. In a thread holder for groups of weft ends in a weft replenishing loom, a series of rotary tensioning members in driving relation to turn together and arranged in pairs, 2. pair of members for each group of weft ends, means to effect turning of one of said members about a fixed axis during loom operation, one of said members being made of a soft elastic material and another member of the series adjacent thereto being in .the form of a gear having teeth which cause deformation of the elastic member and due to said deformation cause turning of the elastic member when said other member turns.

11. The structure set forth in claim 10 wherein the member made of soft elastic material is said one member which is driven by said means.

12. The structure set forth in claim 10 wherein said one member which is made of soft elastic material is intermediate two members which are formed as gears and is driven by one of said two members and drives the other of said two members.

13. The structure set forth in claim 10 wherein said one member which is made of soft elastic material has a removable elastic band on the periphery thereof for engagement with said other member adjacent thereto.

14. In a thread holder for groups of weft ends extending from the reserve bobbin magazine of a weft replenishing loom, a series of rotary tensioning members in driving relation and turning together during loomoperation, said members arranged in pairs and each pair having parts thereof in mutual driving relation moving in a direction to tension weft ends between the members of the pair and at least two of said members having parts thereof in mutual driving relation moving in the opposite direction, and thread guide means intermediate said magazine and said series of members directing the groups of weft ends to said pairs of members and preventing said groups from passing between said two members.

15. The structure set forth in claim 14 wherein said guide extends to a point above said two members at least as far from the magazine as are the ends of said members which are remote from said magazine.

16. In a thread holder for the weft ends of a weft replenishing loom, a pair of rotary members in driving relation with each other rotating during loom operation and between which said weft ends extend, one of said members being formed as a gear and the other member including soft elastic material in engagement with said one member, means mounting said members for bodily relative movement, and resilient means urging one member toward the other member and strong enough to cause said one member to deform and effect turning of the other member.

17. In a thread holder for groups of weft ends in a weft replenishing loom, a series of rotary tensioning members rotating during loom operation and in driving relation to turn together and arranged in pairs, one pair for each group of weft ends, means mounting said members for bodily movement relative to each other, one of said members being intermediate two members which are formed as gears and being made of soft elastic material, and resilient means urging said members into meshing relation and strong enough to cause said two members to cause deformation of said one member and due to said deformation effect driving relation between said one member and said two members.

18. In a thread holder for weft ends extending from reserve bobbins in a weft replenishing loom, a housing formed with a vertical wall, a pair of thread tensioning members in driving relation with each other rotating during loom operation and extending a given distance from said wall, a thread guide secured to said housing and having a thread guide slot therein above said rotary members, and a spacing element below said slot and above at least one of said rotary members having a part thereof not less than said given distance from said wall and having another part below said part thereof curved toward the wall and terminating at a point nearer said wall than said given distance so that a thread hanging by gravity from said slot along the lower part of said spacing element will fall against one of said rotary members. 7

ALBERT CEDERLUND.

ALBERT PALMER. ROBERT S. SCHEDIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 19,100 Payne Mar. 6, 1934 1,014,844 Northrop Jan. 16, 1912 2,385,242 Whitin Sept. 18, 1945 2,387,289 Payne Oct. 23, 1945 2,387,302 Santon Oct. 23, 1945 

